Is there temporary guardianship without court in California?

Can you get guardianship without going to court in California?

No. In California a guardian of a child is appointed by a judge, after a petition, notice to the child's family, a court investigation and a hearing (California Courts Self-Help Guide, Probate guardianships).

A temporary guardian is appointed by a judge too. Under Probate Code §2250, a temporary guardianship can be requested only on or after the filing of a petition for a general guardianship, with facts showing good cause, and the temporary guardian is appointed to serve while the court decides that petition. Under Probate Code §2257, though, the powers end 30 days after appointment, on an earlier date set in the order, or once the temporary guardian learns that a guardian has been appointed and qualified, whichever comes first; for good cause the court may extend or shorten that time. The temporary guardianship petition, GC-110, "must be filed with a guardianship petition, or in an existing guardianship case."

The Immigrant Legal Resource Center says the same in its family preparedness toolkit: "in California you cannot grant another person guardianship of your child informally or through a power of attorney – only a state court can do that" (ILRC, Step-by-Step Family Preparedness Plan, November 2024).

Search results for this phrase often show other states' forms, which follow those states' laws. This page covers California only.

What can a parent or caregiver sign in California without a judge?

Without a judge, California families commonly use one school record and up to three documents. None of them is a guardianship, and none of them transfers custody.

• The school emergency card. A school district may require parents to keep emergency information current at the school, including a relative or friend authorized to care for the child in an emergency when the parent cannot be reached (Education Code §49408). If a school employee knows a parent is not available, the school must first use the parent's instructions in that emergency contact information to arrange the child's care (Education Code §234.7(d)). Updating it is free.
• The Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit (CAA). The caregiver signs it, not the parent, and only once the child lives in the caregiver's home (Family Code §6550, §6552).
• A medical consent authorization under Family Code §6910. A parent signs it, for an adult the child has been entrusted to.
• A written child care agreement. The parents list the decisions another adult may make; the courts' self-help guide says it is "technically called a 'power of attorney'" (Options other than a guardianship).

A nomination of guardian is also signed without a court, but it only matters if someone files a guardianship case.

How do the caregiver affidavit, medical consent, nomination and guardianship compare?

The table groups the options by what they do: authority that works now without a court, a statement of preference for a court, and court appointments. They do different jobs, and a family may use more than one.

Does a caregiver affidavit give custody?

No. The Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit is a form the caregiver signs without a court, once the child lives with them, and it does not give the caregiver legal custody; a guardianship of the person is a court order that does. The statutory form says so in its notices:

This declaration does not affect the rights of the minor's parents or legal guardian regarding the care, custody, and control of the minor, and does not mean that the caregiver has legal custody of the minor.

The affidavit covers school enrollment and school-related medical care (and other medical and dental care for a relative who completes items 1–8). Who signs it, when, what changed on January 1, 2026, and when it stops working, item by item: California Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit.

Is a power of attorney the same as a legal guardian?

No. In California, a power of attorney for a child can hand another adult the specific decisions it lists, but, in the words of the courts' self-help guide, "it will not give you legal custody over the child," and a parent can cancel it at any time (Options other than a guardianship). The same page calls it a "Written Child Care Agreement," says it is "not a court form," and warns that providers may not be familiar with it and may refuse to recognize it.

The courts' self-help site offers a free template of this kind, Consent for Minor Child to Live with Non-Parent, which it describes as an informal consent document; its instructions say the parents' signatures are notarized.

Is guardianship the same as custody?

A probate guardianship is one way a court gives custody of a child to someone who is not a parent. The notice printed on the Judicial Council's nomination form says:

NOTICE: The guardian of the person of a minor child has full legal and physical custody until the child becomes an adult or is adopted, the court changes guardians, or the court terminates the guardianship. Parents or other interested persons must petition the court to terminate the guardianship. The court will not do so unless the judge decides that termination would be in the child's best interest.

The courts' self-help guide adds that "only a court order, like a guardianship, can take legal custody from a parent and give it to another person," and that in a guardianship the parents' custody rights are taken away "only as long as the guardianship lasts." A document a parent signs at home, notarized or not, does not move custody.

What does a nomination of guardian do, and what does it not do?

A nomination tells a court whom the parent wants as the child's guardian if a guardianship case is ever filed; the court still decides. Under Probate Code §1502, a nomination can be made in a writing signed before any case exists, and the court must give it due weight (see also Family Code §3043). The writing may say it becomes effective only on conditions it names, including the parent's later absence; even then, the person named has no authority until a court appoints a guardian. Unless it says otherwise, it stays in effect despite the parent's later absence, legal incapacity or death.

A parent signs it; under Probate Code §1500, the other parent nominates the same guardian or consents in writing to that nomination unless, when a petition is filed, that parent has died, lacks legal capacity to consent, or would not have to consent to an adoption. The nomination does not appoint anyone. The person named cannot use it to enroll the child in school or consent to medical care; those are what the CAA and a §6910 authorization cover. The courts publish a free nomination form, GC-211. More detail: Nomination of guardian in California.

When does a court guardianship come in?

Only a court order can give legal custody of a child to an adult who is not a parent; the CAA, a §6910 authorization and a nomination do not. A probate guardianship is the court order this page describes (juvenile court cases are outside it). The courts' self-help guide says the options without a court "might not be right" when, for example, a caregiver worries about the child's safety if a parent cancels the caregiver's authority, or wants to add the child to health insurance.

Before AB 495, a custodial parent could be appointed joint guardian together with the parent's nominee only when the parent had a terminal condition (Probate Code §2105(f)). Since January 1, 2026, §2105(g) also covers a custodial parent who is temporarily unavailable:

If a custodial parent is temporarily unavailable due to circumstances, including, but not limited to, a serious medical condition or disability, military service, incarceration, or an immigration-related administrative action, specified in the parent's nomination of a guardian, the court, in its discretion, may appoint the custodial parent and the person nominated by the custodial parent as joint guardians of the person of the minor. A nomination made pursuant to this subdivision shall not be made over the objection of a noncustodial parent without a finding that the noncustodial parent's custody would be detrimental to the minor, as provided in Section 3041 of the Family Code.

So the parent must be the custodial parent, the circumstances must be named in the nomination, the court decides, and a noncustodial parent's objection requires a finding of detriment. These court records are confidential, and information in them is not to be disclosed to law enforcement or immigration enforcement without a court order (§2105(g)(3)–(4)).

How a case starts, fee waivers and the court investigation are explained on the California Courts Self-Help Guide. RightForms does not prepare guardianship petitions.

Where are the free official forms, and what does RightForms add?

The official forms are free:

• Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit, revised January 1, 2026 (a Spanish version is for information only; it says to fill out the English form)
• GC-211, which includes the nomination of guardian
• GC-210 and GC-110, the court petitions for general and temporary guardianship

RightForms prepares the Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit, the nomination of guardian, the §6910 medical consent authorization and the courts' Consent for Minor Child to Live with Non-Parent from one questionnaire, fills in the English PDFs and adds signing instructions to each. For example, the CAA PDF leaves items 5 and 6 blank: a caregiver who is a relative completes them at signing, because only the caregiver can state those facts on that day. The RightForms §6910 authorization prints an expiration date the family chooses: one year by default, and a longer term only up to the youngest child's 18th birthday; for a child who turns 18 sooner, it says the authorization ends on that birthday. RightForms does not choose documents for a family (how RightForms works).

Do I need a lawyer for guardianship in California?

RightForms cannot answer that for a particular family. The courts' self-help guide says it is usually best to have a lawyer's help for a guardianship of the estate (a child's money or property), and suggests that parents and caregivers consult a lawyer about a written child care agreement. Free and low-cost help is listed on the courts' Getting legal help page and on LawHelpCA.

What this page does not answer

This page compares documents in general terms. The wider set of steps families take, such as emergency contacts and where papers are kept, is in the family preparedness plan guide. This page does not cover:

• an existing custody order, or a juvenile court case (generally, if Child Protective Services removed the child from a parent's home, the guardianship is in juvenile court, per the self-help guide);
• a parent who objects, or a parent who cannot be found;
• a child or caregiver living in another state;
• special-education (IEP) decisions;
• the parent's own health care, money or property;
• a parent's immigration case.

For those, see the California Courts Self-Help Guide, the courts' immigration resources for families, and legal aid through LawHelpCA.